[UPDATE – 17 August 2022. Esther Baker sued over this article in High Court Case QB-2020-001013. She lost. The court granted both summary judgement and strike-out finding the claim had no realistic prospect of success. No other person mentioned sued and the time limit has elapsed. Judgement here. My follow-up article here. This article has been added to the “DEFENDED!” category and readers may rely on it.]
Esther Baker has made numerous allegations of sexual abuse. Now she is begging for money for a court case – but she has failed to tell backers the whole story.
Esther Baker’s crowdsourcing page has been taken down after Simpson Millar solicitors (whose name was placed on the page without their authorisation) asked for their name to be removed. These days, crowdsourcing is everywhere. Whether it is for a new type of watch, a security camera with a battery that lasts a year or a revolutionary type of food storage, there is something for everyone. Crowdsourcing has its downsides though, with many campaigns that do not deliver or which even turn out to be fraudulent, such as the Kickstarter for board game, “The Doom that Came to Atlantic City” (archive). Last week Esther Baker, an unsubstantiated rape accuser, began a campaign on Crowdjustice.com. She claims that John Hemming, the man she accused of rape, has defamed her by calling her a liar and is seeking funds to sue for defamation. She is entitled to her day in court. However, Baker’s campaign left out many key facts about the case. If backers knew the whole truth, would they be so keen to contribute?
Esther Baker’s campaign is aimed at raising money from well meaning members of the public who are passionate about achieving justice. However, the campaign (which is down for the time being) was at best misleading and at worst actionable misrepresentation, leaving out key facts about Baker’s mental health, the evidence in the case, its current state and her various changes of lawyer. By asking for this money, Baker is inviting backers to spend their money with her instead of with other good causes, so in this article I set out the truth about the case.
Crowd Justice says it helps people fund legal action, but what protections are there for donors against misleading campaigns?
Esther Baker’s campaign as first published opened with the following lines – “My name is Esther Baker, and I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, grooming and domestic violence. I suffer mental health conditions as a result of my abuse including severe depression and PTSD”.
Baker claims she is a victim of childhood sexual abuse and grooming, but it is public knowledge that despite extensive police investigation, no one has been convicted. Therefore, Baker’s claim to be a survivor is unproven. In fact, according to the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse, there were as many as 11 police officers involved in the investigation. Witness statements were taken from 30 individuals. Ms Baker alone was interviewed for a total of 91½ hours, with the transcripts of those interviews running to 1,081 pages. No one was convicted. No one was even charged.
More importantly, Esther Baker has given an incomplete account regarding her mental health. Baker’s pleadings are available to the public without the Court’s permission under Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 5.4C. In her campaign she refers to Continue reading
